Using Satire to Explain Forced Evictions

October 2014 |For this year’s World Habitat Day, WITNESS launched the satirical forced evictions animation project Evict Them! In 5 Easy Stepsin collaboration with Amnesty International and Pentagram. WITNESS announced the release on the WITNESS blog and via social media.

WITNESS also hosted a “behind the scenes” conversation about the project on Google On Air with representatives from Amnesty International, Pentagram, the International Accountability Project (IAI) and LICADHO-Canada. Additionally, CineMaralita, “a film festival about the Philippine Urban Poor”, requested to screen the animation at their October 10 film festival and plans to use it in community screenings across the country.

The animation was originally translated into eight languages (Arabic, Portuguese, Romanian, Italian, English, Khmer, Spanish, French), and WITNESS has since received offers to translate it into Chinese, Filipino, Thai and Vietnamese. Within the first few weeks following the launch, the English version received almost 10,000 views, and over 10,000 more when considering all languages.

We are now developing online and offline strategies to distribute the Forced Evictions Advocacy Toolkit in the campaigns’ five focus countries: Brazil, Cambodia, Mexico, India and Egypt. We are also collaborating with the International Alliance of Inhabitants (IAI), the International Accountability Project (IAP), and the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing at the United Nations to share the Toolkit with broader networks of forced evictions activists.

WITNESS’ long-term target for Forced Evictions activity is after the Sochi Olympics, when the world will turn its attention to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

For our most recent articles about Forced Evictions, visit the WITNESS Blog